title: The rapidly increasing usefulness of social media in urogynecology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We assessed the availability and quality of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse information in social medias and the growth of such information in the past 13 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  We focused on the most popular social medias (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) to evaluate the key words "urogynecology," "pelvic organ prolapse," "stress incontinence," "urge incontinence," and "incontinence." Initial evaluation included top 30 search results for key word "incontinence" to compare with our study in 2010, followed by a secondary search using the top 100 items. Results were classified as useful or not useful and then further categorized by health care providers, others, commercial, or humorous in intent. Results with the intent of providing information were presumed to be informative.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparative search over a 13-month period showed a stable amount of useful information, 40% to 39%, but an increase in the number of health professionals (22% vs 13%). However, of the 817 search results, 406 (50%) were medically useful. Only 28% were written by health professionals, but of the informative results, 56% were written by health professionals. Finally, specific search terms provided the highest relevant and useful information, but also limited the number of search items found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over 13 months, there was an increase in useful information presented from health professionals. These changes may reflect the medical community's growing awareness of the usefulness of social media. If these trends continue, we predict the use of these medias for medical purposes will continue to increase among medical professionals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA. Alexandriah.alas@cshs.org
authors.forename: Alexandriah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alas
authors.forename: Kamran P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Sajadi
authors.forename: Howard B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Jennifer T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Anger
mesh_terms: D006176:Gynecology / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D056887:Pelvic Organ Prolapse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D061108:Social Media; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D014572:Urology / Q000193:education